Kansas City and Iowa Road Trip - rest of the trip posted!

We decided to explore some of the middle of the country this year. I go to Kansas City frequently on business, and Tim is itching to try the barbeque there, plus a friend in Des Moines had a baby this year, and we’ve been talking about the Iowa State Fair for a while, so we decided to combine it all into a week-long road trip.

We flew into Kansas City, and had dinner the first night with a friend from work and his family. Alas, we forgot the camera, but dinner at Jazz (Creole and Cajun) was a treat. The hush puppies were spicy, crispy and fresh, and my blackened chicken was moist, and had a great afterburn. I’d like to go back and sample more of the menu at some point. Apparently it’s a small chain with six locations, but it has a nice local feel to it.

On Sunday we decided to do a lunch at Stroud’s, the “best chicken dinner in the US” according to Jane and Michael Stern. I must humbly agree. The dinners are family style, and we decided to do a “sharing” plate where for additional $$ you can share an entrée, yet receive all the additional sides for two, instead of one person. We both started with the chicken noodle soup. (soup or salad was offered, I wasn’t enticed by the iceberg lettuce salad I saw being served at the next table). What a fabulous choice. Chunks of chicken, golden, steaming broth, and homemade noodles; I’d like to ship home a bucket of this stuff and freeze it for cold New England winter lunches.

Tim decided on a half order of the fried chicken livers – what we received looked like a double order you might receive elsewhere. I can’t imagine what a full order looks like. They came with a bowl of country gravy for dipping or dunking, and Tim proclaimed them some of the best he’s ever had.

Dinner arrived – we split a two breast / two wing combo, with mashed potatoes, country gravy, and green beans. The chicken was perfectly cooked – the exterior crunchy, but not greasy, and upon cutting into the breast, moist, tender meat. The mashed potatoes were the perfect side to the chicken, bathed in the gravy. The beans – eh. A bit over-boiled, and given the lusciousness of the other items, easily skipped.

We finished dinner with sharing a cinnamon roll. You have a choice of having with the meal, or as dessert, and we had held off until the end of the meal. We were so stuffed we could only manage one between us, but took the rest with us to have for breakfast the next morning.

We spent the rest of the day using the handy GPS to get us off the highway, and onto the back roads to see what there was to see. Time for glorious Americana! We found the Largest Ball of String (not Twine) in Weston, MO – yes, it’s specifically stated that way, apparently to avoid potential confusion ;-) Sadly, it’s just sitting on a covered patio of an Irish Pub. Roadside America (http://www.roadsideamerica.com) notes that it “smells like old mail” but to be honest, I just couldn’t bring myself to smell it.

Back roads took us along some beautiful farm country – rolling hills of corn as far as the eye can see.

We ran into the 50 foot cement tepee outside of Lawrence, Kansas – looked like at one point it was a souvenir shop or something, but it’s closed up now. You can see the high water marks from flooding – the first, near Tim’s head, shows June 5, 1935, and straight up next to the window from July 13, 1951. I can’t imagine coming back from a flood that devastating.

The tepee was just serendipity, as we were really on our way to Topeka, and “Truckhenge”. Unfortunately, it was behind locked gates at a construction yard, so only got a couple of pics through the fence. Apparently the city was going to charge the guy that owns the property for taxes on his junk vehicles, so they became “art”, and hence, tax exempt.

We got Travelin’ Man’d in Topeka at Porubsky’s Grocery – to be honest we hadn’t planned on being there, but it came up in our Roadfood POI on the GPS, so thought we’d give it a try. Alas, it was Sunday and they were closed. We attempted to find the “house made from a missile site”, but realized later after we looked it up that you need to contact them in advance – so another missed opportunity! After wandering through Kansas and driving through downtown Topeka, we headed back to Kansas City for barbeque for dinner – Gates!

We ordered the Burnt End sandwich to split (still full from all that lovely chicken from Strouds). We asked if they could put the meat separately from the bun, so what you see is a large pile of burnt ends with sauce. Unfortunately, these were like no burnt ends I’ve ever had. They were chopped up finely - more like a pork sandwich might be, and were sitting in a pool of grease. Very unfortunate, and frankly, pretty nasty. Side of baked beans and coleslaw – overall it was probably one of the worst meals we had on the entire trip. Not a good way to start our barbeque adventures!

We finished the day with some frozen custard. The closest to our hotel was a place called Foo’s Fabulous Frozen Custard. It was located in what seemed to be an upscale shopping area – tiny place, but creative options. Take a look at the menu board –

I had the “Whut Whut” – vanilla custard mixed with peanut butter and oreo cookies. Tim had a Hot Date, with caramel and coffee. They over mixed mine so it got a bit soupy, but tasted great.

Back to the hotel to regroup for the drive to Iowa tomorrow – we stayed at the Marriott Courtyard downtown by Country Club Plaza. I’d highly recommend as an option if you are going to be there, it’s a registered historical building and has a lot of character – old “milk doors” in the hallways – plus free parking! We stayed there for both the start and ends to our trip.

Monday we wandered up to Iowa and spent a little time in the town of Pella, southeast of Des Moines. It’s a charming town with Dutch roots – lots of small local businesses, and windmills. Apparently in the spring the tulip festival is something to see. Here’s a little shot of the Main Street area with the tourist office in the windmill.

We stopped at Jaarsma Bakery (roadfood and friend-food recommended!) – and went a bit overboard. Lots of amazing cookies and pastries, and we picked up a butter almond cake to take with us to my friend’s for dinner that evening. We strolled a bit, stopped in the meat market for some local summer sausage, had a drink in a terrific local coffee shop and headed to my friend’s house in Des Moines.

We should have brought the camera to my friend's house and photographed dinner! Iowa chops on the grill (butchered from a hog they bought from a local farmer), sweet Iowa corn, homemade mac and cheese, and homemade blueberry crisp for dessert. It was one of the best meals we had on the trip. I’m trying to determine how I can get something similar to those chops here in Connecticut. A great, but simple rub for the pork, I asked for the recipe – if anyone is interested…. Pork rub – ½ cup chili powder, ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup salt, 2 tbl black pepper, 2 tsp cayenne.

Tomorrow – the Iowa State Fair!

We had been dealing with some strong storms off and on, and the weather forecast for the entire week was spotty, but the day dawned sunny and beautiful for the fair. We headed over early, and went scouting. Pork for breakfast? Sure! We found this place that had been at the fair for 96 years, and decided we’d try that for our first breaded pork tenderloin in Iowa. It was tasty – tried mine with a little mustard, but overall I wasn’t overwhelmed. I’m sure there are better in some of the small diners that seem to be all over Iowa.

Welcome to the land of enormous vegetables! Don’t be fooled by the pumpkins at the bottom of the pic – the big ones (over 1,000 pounds) were outside!

Have you ever seen a 22 lb cabbage?

This enormous building had lots of farm products and local food stuffs for sale, along with many of the agricultural exhibits and ribbons – and – the BUTTER COW (plus, interestingly enough – a butter astronaut, and lunar landing module, along with a butter TV showing the moon landing!)

You can tell Iowa is the country’s largest corn producer –

There was a long line for the free eggs on a stick!

You can’t go to the fair without checking out the 4H beef judging.

More options for snacks – cheese curds, a corn brat (like a corn dog, but with a brat – in case the name didn’t clue you in!) and a local favorite – the nut roll! The nut roll is nougat, covered with caramel, rolled in nuts of your choice, and then dipped in chocolate.

We had a marvelous time watching the Outhouse races – teams of 5 (4 runners, one sitter) build outhouse facsimiles with wheels – race them down a course, and the “sitter” pops out, wipes clean a toilet seat covered with chocolate syrup (with their hind end!), runs to a tub filled with grey-ish water and full of vegetables to find the “golden corncob”, then replaces a roll of toilet paper they’ve had to carry during these tasks. They then race back to the other end of the course. Very entertaining!

Any idea here?

Baby Ostriches!

There was a great old dancehall that was used to hold a few exhibits, and a flea market, and these marvelous fiddle players were putting on a great show!

After 11 hours at the fair, it was time to head out! Back with the 2nd half of the week (and LOTS of KC barbeque!) soon...

Today we're leaving Iowa and heading back to Kansas City for the rest of the week. We started our exploring east of Des Moines in Prairie City, where we visited the Neal Smith National Wildlife Center. It is a reconstruction of the prairie as it was in the 1800’s, complete with resident buffalo and elk herds, and a learning center with some really interesting exhibits. They have over 5,000 acres, and have a drive through area available where you can view the herds and other prairie wildlife. We caught some photos of the buffalo herd on the way out, sorry for the graininess of the photo.

We found an old A&W Root Beer stand for a late breakfast / lunch – they still bring the food out to your car on trays, and we enjoyed frosty mugs with our sandwiches.

Headed to Audubon, Iowa, to see Albert the Bull. He’s a 45-ton, 30 foot exact replica of Hereford bull, built to honor the area’s contribution to the beef industry. He’s also built anatomically correct ;-) I was actually able to walk underneath him without stooping – that’s one big bull! We stopped in the local tourist office and had a chat with the lovely folks there on our way out of town.

Before we left Iowa, we had to find a Maid-Rite, and try this local specialty. I wasn’t sure what to expect, being a fan of anything beef, but I have to say the loosemeat sandwich just didn’t hit the beef bell with me. We got ours with cheese and “the works” – mustard, ketchup, pickles, and onions. There are probably better ones available in local diners, but based on this experience – glad we had one, don’t need to do it again.

We stuck to the smaller highways for most of the day – mostly 2 lane roads. There were times we drive for 30 minutes and only saw corn, and soybeans – as far as the eye could see. It’s truly a beautiful sight – vibrant, green fields, acres of them stretching for miles. We had been dodging weather issues and some severe storm warnings all day, and in the distance were some pretty amazing cloud formations. I’m not sure if they ever got tornados, but heavy hail and some wind damage was reported in several areas.

Back in Missouri, we decided to go all out and hit two state fairs in one week! On to the Missouri State Fair, in Sedalia, MO, about an hour’s drive east of Kansas City.

While you can’t compare the Iowa fair and Missouri Fair – Iowa’s fair felt at least 10x bigger than the Missouri fair, they both really bring home the fact that you are in farming country. We go to many of the local fairs in New England, and though you’ll see vegetables, crafts, and animals, the scale on which these two fairs focused on these items really brought home the concept of “America’s bread basket”.

Grand Champion bacon?? Sign me up!

We did have terrific fair food here. Hmm –which way to go first??

This was in the “Pork Palace” – some really great offerings – Tim had the ribs, and I got a BLT. (there’s that bacon thing again!...)

To be fair, we also had to visit the Missouri Beef building, where we supported the beef industry by chowing on barbequed beef, and a ribeye sandwich.

Yes, yet more meat for dinner – we headed back to Kansas City and went to Oklahoma Joe’s for dinner, praying for a better experience than our first one with Gates. I LOVE this place – shares a space with a gas station. We walked in the door – well, actually we waited outside the door for a few minutes as the line was into the parking lot, and as we finally got inside, saw the typical gas station convenience store to our left, and about 40 people in line if front of us snaking off to the right. It was a little chaotic, with no signs for direction, but we kept with the steer mentality and just stayed with the herd, and eventually made our way to the front of the line.

I was disappointed that there were no burnt ends on the menu, but was told they only have them on Wednesday nights, and sometimes on Saturday. Found that interesting as I assumed there would always be burnt ends if you’re smoking brisket, but what do I know?! Would love any feedback from barbeque experts out there –

We ended up with some ribs, sliced brisket, and a “Hog Heaven” sandwich – pulled pork and sliced sausage. We tried the beans, the regular slaw, and the spicy slaw to round things out. I think the pictures will say it all, the food was amazing. The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender, with a slight heat from the rub. The brisket was moist, and flavorful, and the sausage in the sandwich had a great smoky taste. One of the stars of the meal was the beans – I am not a huge baked bean fan, and these are probably the best baked beans I have ever tasted. It was a mix of different beans, with big chunks of pork, but the texture was beautiful – every item stood alone, the beans were firm vs. mushy, and the pork pieces tender and smoky. Amazing!

We spent the day exploring Kansas City, before heading to a Royal’s game in the evening. Check out the city library façade – I thought this was fabulous!

The Nelson-Atkins Art Museum is set on beautifully landscaped grounds – and is a home to world’s largest shuttlecocks (or, if you grew up where I did - badminton birdies)!

One last barbeque meal before we leave for home in the morning – LC’s. It’s a tiny place, with a few tables, a counter with an enormous smoker behind, and in one corner, what looks to be their office – 2 filing cabinets padlocked together with a big chain, and an office chair!

Finally – burnt ends! We ordered one to share (we’ll be going vegetarian for a week after get home!), along with some coleslaw and onion rings. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I think we saved the best for last, although Oklahoma Joe’s was right at the top of the list, also. Both sides were good, but the burnt ends were stellar.

Last thing on our vacation schedule was a Royal’s game at Kauffman Stadium. They were playing the Twins, so we didn’t have a vested interest in either, so we supported the home team. It was an exciting game, with a couple of home runs, a few really good plays, but unfortunately the Royals lost in overtime. There looked to be some decent ball park food, but frankly after the last week we settled for some popcorn and a drink.

What a great way to spend our last evening – the weather was perfect, and a true slice of Americana to end the week. The trusty GPS got us out of the departure crowd and back to the hotel in record time, and we headed to the airport in the morning for the trip home. We had some amazing roadfood, and enjoyed our Midwest adventure!

Great report...of a great area! I did a lot of the Iowa road side attractions, too. You guys missed Riverside - the future birthplace of Captain James Tiberius Kirk. They have a replica of the USS Enterprise that you can hop up on for tacky tourist photos (....errr....or so I hear!).

Must be something about the sky in Kansas City, but some of my photos have that same indigo hue in the night sky.

mr chips - You will LOVE the KC ballpark. For all that everyone is trying to do with building these new stadia, the Royals managed to OUTdo with a retrofit of their "old" ballpark - at a fraction of the cost. I definitely liked it a LOT more than some of the fancy, schmancy new ballparks.

LOL - Travelin Man, we had actually tried to squeeze in the Star Trek site (both of us big fans) but ran out of time. The weather for our last night at the ball park couldn't have been more perfect, and compared to us usually fighting for Red Sox or Yankees tickets, had a wonderful evening at a fraction of the cost.

Tin Tin, Kauffman Stadium is one of my favorite places to see a ballgame. I look forward to returning next year.

I too was very unimpressed with Maid Rite. I'm bummed that you didn't get to try the real regional speciaty of Iowa- The Iowa Chop. Unfortunately for some reason or another they've been neglected post- website" but were prolifically discussed in the pre-website Roadfood books.

Wanderingjew, they got to try the best kind of chop, one made at home. :) You must have missed that in the report. They had homemade Iowa Chops, and what sounded like a great meal, on the first night in Des Moines.

I have to say, the Maid Rites just aren't what they used to be around here. You really need to go to one of the very few older-style shops in town that still do them, or go to a small town and find an old one. The franchise style sandwiches are just not good. :(

Glad you had fun at the fair, but it isn't really the place to go for a great BPT. (breaded pork tenderloin)

@TinTin - You can order Iowa chops online and have them shipped to you, fairly easily. Having lived here my whole life, is there a lack of good pork out that way? Could you just go to a local butcher and ask for a 1" cut, bone in center-cut loin chop?

Wanderingjew, they got to try the best kind of chop, one made at home. :) You must have missed that in the report. They had homemade Iowa Chops, and what sounded like a great meal, on the first night in Des Moines.

I have to say, the Maid Rites just aren't what they used to be around here. You really need to go to one of the very few older-style shops in town that still do them, or go to a small town and find an old one. The franchise style sandwiches are just not good. :(

Glad you had fun at the fair, but it isn't really the place to go for a great BPT. (breaded pork tenderloin)

Great trip report. :)

You're right- I was mesmorized by the photos from Strouds and overlooked the other photos- and then the baby ostriches caught my attention too- (too bad I can't have pets in my condo)

Wandering Jew and In the Water - yep, had what might have been the best chop I've ever eaten at my friend Emilie's house in Des Moines - they were about an inch and half think, with a Flintstone's looking bone attached. I went online a bit after we got back and looked at shipping, but in the end I went to my local market and had them cut me some large chops. They're in the freezer now, but I'm thinking the difference will be supermarket meat vs. a local farmer. We'll give these a try, and based on how they come out may look at a locally butchered animal for next year.

Great report, can't beat state fair travel, everyone should go to the Iowa state fair sometime in their life, MO fair is OK but not in the same league.

We've swung through Pella many times and love it also, just beautiful small town, great bakeries and I forget the name of the meat market but I always bring my cooler and fill it up with sausages.

Agree w/you about Maid Rite, never figured out the appeal, and agree with Gates, just not good bbq.

And huge agreement with Oklahoma Joe's, it's surpassed Bryants as my #1 bbq in KC, just outstanding, LC's is also good but can be very inconsistent, especially at Lenexa location.

Glad you liked Strouds, may have to go there this week,

But don't agree with comments who love the stadium, I think it's too tricked up and gimmicky and they did a poor job with the renovation, food is poor, no local eateries, just corporate ballpark food, probably doesn't help that the Royals really stink this year, again.

Great report, can't beat state fair travel, everyone should go to the Iowa state fair sometime in their life, MO fair is OK but not in the same league.

We've swung through Pella many times and love it also, just beautiful small town, great bakeries and I forget the name of the meat market but I always bring my cooler and fill it up with sausages.

Agree w/you about Maid Rite, never figured out the appeal, and agree with Gates, just not good bbq.

And huge agreement with Oklahoma Joe's, it's surpassed Bryants as my #1 bbq in KC, just outstanding, LC's is also good but can be very inconsistent, especially at Lenexa location.

Glad you liked Strouds, may have to go there this week,

But don't agree with comments who love the stadium, I think it's too tricked up and gimmicky and they did a poor job with the renovation, food is poor, no local eateries, just corporate ballpark food, probably doesn't help that the Royals really stink this year, again.

Arthur Bryants was embarassingly bad the last time I was there in 2008. I will never go back and waste a meal there again.

LC's was my favorite bbq stop last year in KC- it even exceeded Oklahoma Joe's which I also thought was every good- although I went to the original KC location of LC's

I really enjoyed Kauffman Stadium, although I was there last in 2003. I usually don't eat at ballparks, so the food offerings don't mean much to me.

Tim and Terri, I've really enjoyed your trip report, and I hope to see more from you in the future. I'll be in KC in February, and I've already decided not to bother with Arthur Bryant's ( they were great ten years ago; what happened?? ), but now I have to decide between LC's and Oklahoma Joe's for my one BBQ meal there. I'm looking forward to meeting you in Buffalo next week.

Tim and Terri, I've really enjoyed your trip report, and I hope to see more from you in the future. I'll be in KC in February, and I've already decided not to bother with Arthur Bryant's ( they were great ten years ago; what happened?? ), but now I have to decide between LC's and Oklahoma Joe's for my one BBQ meal there. I'm looking forward to meeting you in Buffalo next week.

Tim and Terri, I've really enjoyed your trip report, and I hope to see more from you in the future. I'll be in KC in February, and I've already decided not to bother with Arthur Bryant's ( they were great ten years ago; what happened?? ), but now I have to decide between LC's and Oklahoma Joe's for my one BBQ meal there. I'm looking forward to meeting you in Buffalo next week.

Who says you have to limit yourself to one place per meal?

You wouldn't want to disappoint Chi Town Diner, would you???

How correct you are - if I remember correctly, when we were in Buffalo last year we had lunch at Ted's AND Schwabl's - it was too difficult to pick between them. Looking forward to revisiting both stops!

Thanks for such a great report! I lived in Weston, MO for a year and visited KC many times. Loved the area but had to return home with illness of parents. I agree that LC's is one of the best places but the pictures of Stroud's chicken dinner brought me back to my favorite chicken places ever! Must plan a trip out there to visit soon! Judy

Terri, this is an awesome trip report! I love the crazy roadside attraction stuff, and I actually said 'Pella!' when you posted the first windmill. (Julie is a Central College alum so we've been to Pella on a few occasions and I'm always struck by how pretty and what a perfect college town it is.) And then I had to laugh at the Iowa State Fair pictures because mine from the Minnesota State Fair are awfully similar--we must share some important brain cells. ;) Thanks for taking us along!

Tim and Terri, I've really enjoyed your trip report, and I hope to see more from you in the future. I'll be in KC in February, and I've already decided not to bother with Arthur Bryant's ( they were great ten years ago; what happened?? ), but now I have to decide between LC's and Oklahoma Joe's for my one BBQ meal there. I'm looking forward to meeting you in Buffalo next week.

Who says you have to limit yourself to one place per meal?

You wouldn't want to disappoint Chi Town Diner, would you???

How correct you are - if I remember correctly, when we were in Buffalo last year we had lunch at Ted's AND Schwabl's - it was too difficult to pick between them. Looking forward to revisiting both stops!

You're both right; when I was in North Carolina back in May, I had two lunches in one afternoon ( Snappy Lunch and Lexington #1, an hour apart ), but since I'll be having dinner at Stroud's that evening, I want to make sure that I have a healthy appetite when they set that wonderful fried chicken in front of me.